From truck to table: Abstrakt Filipino Essence food truck plans 40-seat Jacksonville Beach restaurant

The local couple behind Jacksonville's Abstrakt Filipino Essence food truck plans to open a 40-seat restaurant in Jacksonville Beach this summer.

Chef JoJo Hernandez, who opened his food truck in 2020, has leased a 1,600-square-foot former real estate office with his wife, Desiree. The restaurant, at 1500 Beach Blvd. in the Gates of Beach Boulevard Shopping Center next to Engine 15 Brewery, will feature an open kitchen and is being built from the ground up. Hota Design Studio of Jacksonville is the architect for the new restaurant.

Hernandez said he selected the location based on the Filipino population in the area and added that he’s “familiar with it” and feels his style of cooking will “blend in with the community’s tastes.”

The lease on the restaurant is for five years with an option to renew. Hernandez said he plans to keep the food truck for now, but use it for events and concentrate his efforts on the restaurant.

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Jojo Hernandez is a native of the Philippines and moved to the U.S. in 1995. He got his start as a cook at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club at age 21, and was promoted to sous chef and began running the kitchen. He then spent 18 years at the Florida Yacht Club in Ortega as sous chef to the banquet chef before going on to become sous chef to the executive sous chef, and supervising the club's ala carte and banquet kitchen for lunch and dinner service.

He left the yacht club to chase his dreams, opening Abstrakt Filipino Essence food truck on March 18, 2020, downtown at the Court Urban Food Park, just as the pandemic broke. Despite the uncertainty of this time, Hernandez said that his first two years were “a success” and he’s “beyond thankful for the Jacksonville community.”

Inspired by his wife's and his mother's cooking, and with two small children at home (now, three), Hernandez craved more flexibility and the ability to focus on the Filipino cuisine so near and dear to him.

Best-sellers on the food truck include pancit and lumpia, pork belly sisig, and chicken tocino bowl with crispy brussels sprouts. He said he plans to incorporate a Sunday brunch at the restaurant that will feature longsilog, a traditional dish that features longganisa sausage, fried eggs and garlic rice. The plan is to open for dinner Tuesday to Saturday, 5 to 9 p.m. out of the gate, with a Filipino brunch on Sundays.

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Hernandez said he plans to use his country club experience to create a casual, family dining feel to sit and enjoy the meal. He says it won’t be a "fast-paced" experience and wants guests to feel relaxed.

“Never in my dreams did I think I would be able to open a restaurant,” Hernandez said. “I’m inspired every day by my wife, Desiree, and my mom, Maybelene, and my three children, Razzlyn Joy, Aiden Ely and Eugene Jamie.”

Caron Streibich is an avid food-lover who reviews restaurants in the Life section. Follow her dining adventures at facebook.com/caroneats and #caroneats on Instagram.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Filipino food truck Abstrakt plans Jacksonville Beach restaurant